I am traveling New Zealand a little bit differently than I have traveled other places before in the past.
This time around, I am traveling with what is essentially a hop-on, hop-off tour bus called Stray Tours, which was recommended to me by some friends.
It seems that traveling by a tour bus or traveling by camper van are the two most popular ways to travel the country.
I debated for a while between traveling with this Stray bus or by local bus, which is called Naked Bus (there are other options, too), but my friends convinced me that traveling with a company like Stray was the best way to meet people.
Though traveling by public bus would have been way cheaper, I decided to go with Stray and purchase its Max Pass – best for travelers who would be making their rounds through the North and South Islands in about 26 days with the option to hop off the bus anywhere along the route, explore the places you want to explore, and organise a place to hop back on the bus somewhere along the route it is traveling.
Part of me is greatly regretting traveling with Stray simply because I think as someone who has traveled before, Stray feels like a step back. It is very itinerary-driven, and I find myself doing things that I would not otherwise do (spend the night in Gunns Camp or Invercargill) and often I feel somewhat like I am on a class trip.
I like that I am meeting people with Stray, and I loved my guide the first few days, but I would have met just as many people staying in hostels at each place I arrived. To tell you the truth, most of the people so far I have been hanging around are the people I am meeting in my hostel dorms.
Additionally, I do not like traveling on someone else’s schedule, which is how I feel at the moment. I just before met two kids in my dorm room, a Dutch kid (I like him because he told me Brooklyn was founded by the Dutch) and a German kid, both of whom are hitchhiking around the country. That was the way I wanted to travel – a mix of public transport and hitchhiking to help my wallet while ticking certain experiences off the list, but I found myself purchasing a pass with Stray.
On top of that, because I decided not to purchase a visa for New Zealand, I needed to have a ticket out of the country before I boarded my flight. A tourist visa allows you a stay of three months at no charge in New Zealand, but it is an expensive country to stay for that long without having steady work.
I chose to stay for just over one month and leave on the 15th of April, which puts me on a tight schedule as well.
Either way, I still love New Zealand incredible amounts so far. This is a roundabout plan (though there is a chance I will change my ticket) of my New Zealand Itinerary.
My New Zealand Itinerary:
1 night / Queenstown
1 night / Gunns Camp (Spend the afternoon cruising the Milford Sound)
1 night / Invercargill
5 nights / Queenstown (birthday, sky diving, bungy jumping, Nevis swing, luge, hotel reviews)
2 nights / Mt Cook
1 night / Rangitata (Lord of the Rings)
1 night / Kaikoura (Dolphin swim)
1 night / Wellington
2 nights / Auckland
1 night / HaHei (beach town)
1 night / Raglan
1 night / Mourea
1 night/ Lake Aniwhenua
2 nights / Taupo
1 night / Whakahoro
1 night / National Park – Tongariro Crossing
1 night / Wellington
2 nights / Nelson (Michael and Lauren’s favourite place)
3 nights / Abel Tasman National Park
1 night / Punakaiki
2 nights / Franz Josef (Glacier Hikes)
2 nights / Lake Wanaka
1 night / Queenstown (maybe one more bungy)
1 night / Christchurch
I fly out from Christchurch on the 15th, but there is a chance I may soon be calling my airline and trying to see if I can change my ticket.
We will see how well I stick to this plan. I may stay longer in certain places if the weather is poor and it is something (like the Tongariro Crossing, Taupo) I really want to do. I also really want to explore the North Island a little bit through the eyes of some locals I might know, so we will see what happens!
